WarCry.com has posted an interview with Priates of the Burning Sea's Producer John Scott Tynes. They also posted two new screenshots!

WarCry: At PAX you announced avatar combat would officially be in the game when it launches this summer. Why did you choose to bring it in and delay launch to accommodate it?

John Scott Tynes: Its just such a big expectation for the whole pirate/swashbuckling genre that we decided we had to deliver on it  particularly for boarding combat, where you really want to get in there and swing your sword around instead of watching some numbers float by.